
How are Data Networks and International Collaboration Furthering Epidemiologic Research? A Q&A with Samy Suissa, PhD
Dr. Samy Suissa is a Co-Founder and Principal Investigator of the Canadian Network for Observational Drug Effect Studies (CNODES). He is Director of the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at the Jewish General Hospital and Professor, Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and of Medicine, McGill[…]

Interview with Dr. Mark Friedman on Covid-19 Complications and the Use of Real-World Data
Mark Friedman is VP of Medical Affairs for Panalgo. He is an internist with over 20 years of clinical and pharmacoeconomics consulting experience. He has management experience in the formulary and managed care implementation processes and also plays a major role in the design and implementation of clinically-oriented outcomes research studies,[…]

You Can Influence ICER Recommendations, You Just Need the Right Evidence
It’s difficult to dispute the findings of an advisory group which is widely accepted as the authority, especially when it comes to evaluating the value of different therapeutic interventions. The cost of drugs in the U.S. has been a hot button topic in recent years, so healthcare industry stakeholders are increasingly looking for objective[…]

Scaling Analytics Across Your Commercial Teams as a Driver of Competitive Advantage
First in a two-part blog series on how life sciences commercial teams can drive competitive advantage through analytics The investment in data and analytics by life sciences organizations is not new and the advantages are continually touted. A recent article from McKinsey estimates predictive analytics and data visualization can optimize life[…]

BHE is Now Panalgo: Why We Changed Our Name and Brand
In 1996, I started Boston Health Economics (BHE) to provide professional research services to the life sciences industry, including economic modeling, database analyses and strategic consulting. For more than two decades we have had the privilege of serving the industry’s leading life sciences organizations.

Using RWD & Analytics to Measure the Economic Burden of Colorectal Cancer Complications
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women.[1] According to estimates, there will be over 100,000 new cases of colon cancer, and over 40,000 cases of rectal cancer diagnosed in the US this year.[2]

ICER’s Development and Use of RWE: 5 Areas for Concern
The pervasiveness of real-world data (RWD) and the need to understand outcomes in clinical practice have galvanized the ubiquity and utility of real-world evidence (RWE). Especially within the life sciences industry, RWE is increasingly leveraged by research and development, epidemiology, outcomes research, and commercial groups across an asset’s[…]

ICER Takes Aim at Rising Drug Prices: 7 Things to Know
As an organization that evaluates the comparative value of medical technologies, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is no stranger to ruffling the feathers of the life sciences industry. Its track record of declaring that drugs are overpriced says it all (see our recent blog post for a fuller description). More recently, ICER[…]

Top 3 Questions Raised by ICER’s Proposed Changes to its Value Assessment Framework
Just 2 weeks ago, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) proposed changes to its 2017-2019 Value Assessment Framework, which guides the analytic structure of the primary domains of their framework. These 4 domains include comparative clinical effectiveness, long-term cost-effectiveness (CE), potential other benefits or disadvantages[…]

97% of Evaluated Drugs are Overpriced, According to ICER
2018 was not a good year for biopharma manufacturers, based on the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review’s (ICER) evaluation of interventions across various disease areas. Seemingly every month, ICER generated negative press for the biopharma industry. Headlines read: